


Castles Made of Sand

by sadstrut



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 80s, Adolescent Sexuality, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Awkward Crush, Awkwardness, Bisexual Female Character, Coming Out, Crushes, F/F, Falling In Love, Feelings, Female Friendship, Female Relationships, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Girls Kissing, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, How Do I Tag, Hufflepuff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kissing, LGBTQ Female Character, Lesbian Character, Love, My First AO3 Post, My First Work in This Fandom, Original Character(s), Pre-Battle of Hogwarts, Romance, School, Self-Discovery, Short, Short & Sweet, Slow Burn, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Weirdness, Witches, Wizarding Culture (Harry Potter), Wizarding World (Harry Potter), Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadstrut/pseuds/sadstrut
Summary: This is a short story I am writing based on the first time I fell in love.This isn't lore heavy or really even that accurate in regards to the Wizarding World, I just wanted to use it as a backdrop after imagining all of the little gay love stories of ordinary witches and wizards in Hogwarts.It still needs quite a bit of work but I was eager to post since I have never posted anything on here before. I'll keep working on it though. Please don't mind the bits that are still a bit... lacking. I still wanna flesh out the characters a lot more and stuff. Thanks, and I hope you'll like it! :)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	Castles Made of Sand

**1 - 1987**

Juniper Crooks was no less ordinary than any other witch in her year. Weird looking as she was, she did feel left out for a while there, having been relentlessly bullied during her first year — something that still bothered her, even five years later. Juniper was a bit on the shorter side, not really thin and had thick and wavy reddish-blonde hair. She wore big round glasses, which framed her dark green eyes, and frequently slid down her long thin nose. This gave her a habit (that looked like a nervous tick) of pushing her glasses up with her middle finger every few minutes. To say she was awkward would be an understatement. But then again, what fifteen year-old is not awkward? 

She had, however, a couple of close friends she could count on. Holly Wattle and Amelia Hemlock, both Hufflepuff fifth years as herself, were the people Juniper could always be seen with in the common room, in the library, in Hogsmeade or out on the grounds. Holly was tall and strong-looking, with long brown hair. Amelia was as tall as Juniper, and had long black hair which was always in braids. They clearly didn't mind the way she looked or how loud she talked, which she had so long been teased for. They found her funny, and would always request their favourite bits in between lessons. Maybe if she wasn't so self-conscious she might even have delighted the classroom with her impersonations of professors. 

However, that's not the way she was. Juniper had been taught that anything that might draw attention to herself was as good as a target on her back. And so she'd retreated inside herself, marveling at the moments when she felt safe enough to burst out. 

Life went on. It was a regular day of lessons, mid march, and Juniper was out in the grounds after lunch with Holly and Amelia. They had a bit of time before the next class was due to start, and were hanging out under a tree and talking, amongst groups of other students going about the same. 

"Anyway, you have to see this old french actress" Amelia was saying. "She is the most amazing witch I have ever seen in my life... "

"You have a new one every week" said Holly. "I've watched all of them and they're all boring as fuck!"

Amelia gasped. "You know how I feel about cursing!"

"Oh, you're too sensitive…" 

Juniper, who wasn't really paying attention, got up and told the others she was going to the bathroom. 

As she walked away however, she turned the opposite direction, and made her way to a corridor on the third floor of the castle. All of the classrooms around were rarely used, so the place was always deserted. There was a big window looking out over the lake at the end of the corridor. This was a place she'd come quite often, whenever she felt she needed a few moments to herself. The view was soothing. She couldn't really understand why this was, because she liked her friends very much, she was fond of them. But still the fact remained that every once in a while, her mind would get foggy and she'd need a few minutes alone. 

As her thoughts unswirled and her breathing slowed, she began making her way back to the grounds. Every time she'd go down those stairs she'd question herself if it had been really necessary to walk out on her friends like that. "If you hadn't come, you would have wished you had for the rest of the day", she said to herself. Yes, it was true. It was hard to have a moment alone - Amelia and Holly were not only in all of her classes and meals, but also in the very same dormitory. This was a frequent discussion in Juniper's head; feeling guilty for wanting a minute to herself, while also trying to be reassured that she was entitled to it. 

As she approached the spot under the tree where she had left ten minutes earlier, she was surprised to see four people there instead of the two she was expecting. 

"There she is" said Holly, gesturing to her. "Juni, this is Rhea Ollerton and Genevive Dowson. They're in Gryffindor"

"Um, hi" tried Juniper. 

"Rhea heard us mention one of your muggle bands," Holly explained. "And I told her we were talking about you!"

"I'd never heard of anyone around here who knew Led Zeppelin" said the girl named Rhea. "You see, I'm muggle-born."

"Oh…" said Juniper, as she sat down. This had caught her by surprise - Holly and Amelia were not the type to make friends over lunch. And moreover, being the topic of conversation! She felt her cheeks get warm. "Cool!" She tried sounding casual.

Rhea was a little taller than Juniper, and had short, dark red hair which was visibly tangled and a tad messy. She had freckles all over her face and bright blue eyes. She had lanky arms and generally gave off an air of not caring. Genevive, who was sitting a little bit to the side, had brown hair and brown eyes. Her face was round and pretty, and she wore sparkling silver hoop earrings.

Rhea immediately started talking as if she had known Juniper for years. Asking of all the bands she listened to, commenting on what she thought of all the members, telling her of all the concerts she had been to.

Juniper was caught off guard, but was excited to share those things with someone - Amelia and Holly were into other things, and no one she had met until that point cared that much about some old muggle bands. 

"So… I'll see you tomorrow maybe?" Rhea said as they made their way back to the castle for their lessons.

"Definitely!" Juniper smiled. 

They said goodbye and as she walked to class, Juniper thought that meeting Rhea had made her day. 

...

That week, Juniper met Rhea everyday during break. They would talk for every single minute they had available - if they had had classes together, they would've talked even then. 

Juniper had never had a friend whose interests aligned with her own so much; it was like everything she liked, Rhea did too. They would discuss who the best player or singer was, which album was better than which, and even who the best looking member was. 

On friday, Rhea appeared carrying a weird object, which looked from a distance as a big telephone receiver. As she came closer however, Juniper could see that it was a pair of headphones that had been enlarged by magic. 

"Hey!" Rhea said, happily. "I put a stretching jinx on them" She showed them. "They were my father's in the seventies"

"That's... nifty!" said Juniper, instantly regretting the awfully tacky expression. 

"So we can listen together" As Rhea said this, she put one end of the headphones over her head and tapped on the spot beside her on the bench for Juniper to sit. 

As she did so, Rhea put the other end of the headphones over her head, and then hurried to the end of the cable to press play on the old and battered cassette player. 

"Straight Shooter", a song by american group the Mamas and the Papas began playing as Juniper realized just how close to Rhea she was. The headphones kept their heads close together and by extension their whole bodies. It wasn't the most comfortable experience, but Juniper didn't really care. She didn't really care about - or even notice - the odd looks the other kids were shooting their way. She was ecstatic, finally being able to share her deep love of old muggle bands with someone, and she didn't even feel dorky about it anymore.

"I love this one" said Rhea, smiling. 

They sang together and Juniper felt elated. After a couple more songs, Rhea pulled the headphones off their heads carefully, but did not move away. Instead, she put her hand softly on Juniper's leg. "You're cold," she said, blankly.

Juniper didn't know how to react to this, although she had noticed before that Rhea had the habit of doing random awkward things like that. She quickly decided to take it in stride, and shrugged. 

"You coming to Hogsmeade this weekend?" She asked, casually.

"Yeah" Rhea answered, not taking her hand off Juniper's leg. "Wanna go together?"

Juniper was walking, in a rather chipper fashion, with Holly and Amelia back to class after making plans to meet Rhea the following morning. 

"She's so _cool_!" she said to them. 

"You're awfully impressed," said Amelia. 

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Juniper.

"Not necessarily. But we haven't had a single moment to talk to you, _without her_." 

"Well, I'm sorry," Juniper said, truthfully. "It's just I've never had anyone to talk to about this stuff"

"I like _some_ of the stuff you listen to!" accused Holly. 

"Ah, but it's not the same thing… she really _knows_ these things."

Holly sighed and kept on walking, and Amelia remained silent. 

"Come off it guys!" said Juniper, to no avail, as they kept walking silently.

She followed reluctantly.

...

In Hogsmeade, Genevive was shunted to walk beside Holly and Amelia, as Rhea and Juniper walked together talking excitedly. They spent the whole day glued together, walking up and down the streets but never bothering to enter any of the shops. They lost track of time, forgot to have lunch and their friends eventually abandoned them, having been thoroughly ignored. That night when Juniper got back to the common room, Amelia accused her of being "entranced".

It was true that she couldn't get over Rhea's ways. All she wanted was to impress her. She was even nervous about it - never before had she wanted to be friends with someone this badly.

Rhea was so wonderfully weird. She wasn't scared of anybody, like Juni was. One time a boy from Slytherin had come over to make fun of her stretched out headphones, and she jinxed him right then and there. Of course she was less than delighted when she got detention for it, but she was also cool enough to pull it off. 

When she got off, she came right on over to the benches where Juniper, Holly and Amelia were sitting, along with Genevive, who couldn't manage very well without Rhea. When they were all getting up to go to dinner, Rhea suddenly turned and pinned Juniper against the wall, with her arms on either side of her face. Their faces were closer than they had ever been.

Before Juniper could make sense of what was going on, she said "You know, if you were a boy, I probably would've kissed you by now." 

There was no answer that could bless her at that point. Her face was hotter than a volcano and her heart felt like it was doing a drum solo. 

The girls looked shocked. But at the same time, it was like nothing less could be expected of Rhea and her erratic ways. Before anything else could be felt or said, Rhea turned and walked chipperly away. 

…

A few days later, during class, Juniper asked to go to the bathroom. She wasn't planning on doing so, but was instead on her way to the third floor corridor, since she hadn't had a chance to go there ever since the episode with Rhea. 

It'd been so weird and she couldn't stop thinking of it. She couldn't understand what could possibly be bothering her so much about it; Maybe it was something about how Holly and Amelia had sort of teased her about it. Or maybe she was bothered that she had wanted to impress Rhea so badly, but had apparently let her down. Or maybe - maybe it was the way she closed in on her, closer than she had ever been to someone, ever. 

As she approached the window, these thoughts filled her head. She thought about how she had, more than once, taken the long way to the Great Hall just to pass by Gryffindor Tower. How her face had flushed and her heart skipped a beat at the thought of running into Rhea. 

And, as no logical conclusion seemed to present itself, she thought of how she had never felt this way towards anyone before. She pictured herself thinking up ways to impress her, to earn her friendship and her admiration. It was, in a sick way, all that mattered to her. Rhea was just the coolest person in the world and she needed to keep her. No matter what her friends said.

She took a few minutes to look over the lake, sparkling in the sunlight, forgetting for a while what she had been thinking of. She was quite easily distracted, and the shiny water provided a joyful transition to more mundane thoughts. Juniper turned around and began to make her way back to the classroom, but as she rounded a corner - of course - who should appear but…

"Hey!" said Rhea, lifting her hand up and jokingly waiting for a high five. 

Juniper smiled, surprised, and slowing down, slapped her hand on Rhea's. 

After their hands touched, however, they did not immediately part. No, they lowered their hands together, slowly, looking fixedly at each other, and by the time they had their arms down they were kind of... holding hands? 

Everything was silent. Both of them looked down at their hands and back at each other, and slowly letting go, continued walking in opposite directions. 


End file.
